Russia 'can be good guys and live peacefully with Ukraine if they get rid of Putin'

Russia can be the "good guys" and live peacefully with Ukraine if they get rid of Vladimir Putin, Kyiv’s ambassador to Britain has said.

Vadym Prystaiko said his country’s fight was not with the Russian people and urged them to “change their leadership”.

Speaking exclusively to the Telegraph, Mr Prystaiko warned there was no mechanism in the Kremlin to “let steam out of the system”, which could lead to political collapse.

He said Ukraine has the power to push Russian troops back over the border but has no intention to force Vladimir Putin from power, adding it was up to the Russian people to force any changes in the country’s leadership.

“Everything can change, we’re realistic here, but if we manage to push them out of our land we will stop at the border and tell them: ‘now it’s your problem’.

“If you’re not happy with what you have achieved, if you’re not happy with what your great leader told you and now you’ve been humiliated and lost so many people, deal with that yourselves.”

'Some of us would love to burn down the Kremlin'

Some Ukrainians “would like to go all the way to the Kremlin, burn it down and have a selfie”, he said.

“I will probably be among them in the first row. But most of us understand we don’t actually need anything from the Russians.”

Mr Prystaiko blamed Russia’s situation on its lack of a functioning parliamentary democracy, warning that the country’s history of violent political upheaval could soon repeat itself.

“Each time they take it to the point where everything breaks down. That will happen again,” he said.

“We don’t care if something happens to Russia - Russia will survive. They only have to change their leadership, it’s not about the Russian people or their territory. They can be wealthy, they can have their gas and oil and be the good guys.”